Well-being index sees rise to 18th among 37 nations

TAIPEI--The well-being of Taiwan's citizens has moved up one place to rank 18th among 37 countries, according to the results of a survey released Friday by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).

Taiwan scored 6.93 out of a perfect 10, compared with 6.64 last year, when Taiwan first released such a report, according to the DGBAS.

The survey is based on a similar survey carried out each year by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) among its members. Although Taiwan is not an OECD member and is not included in the OECD survey, it continues to outdo the only two OECD members in Asia — South Korea and Japan — the DGBAS survey shows.

Launched in 2011, the OECD index identifies 11 criteria as being essential to well-being, ranging from health and education to the environment, safety and life satisfaction, as well as more traditional indicators such as income.